


Mild Annoyances

by Magefeathers



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 21:39:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8594716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magefeathers/pseuds/Magefeathers
Summary: Written for an anon request on tumblr. The prompt was Jason and Bruce + "I got you a present."
It's been brought to Jason's attention that Bruce doesn't have any recent photos of him. A half-assed attempt at a remedy goes better than expected.





	

“Got you a present.”

The claim was a common one, always delivered with a smirk evident in its tone. The presents, as he called them, tended to be mild annoyances at best and time-consuming inconveniences at worst. The closest he had ever come to delivering an actual gift had been the time he’d dropped a hogtied crook off of a fire escape and into Bruce’s waiting arms. Being caught bridal-style by Batman seemed to scare the goon more than the fall did.

Today, however, there was no chance of something similar happening. Bruce sat at the Batcave’s computer, his back to the approaching young man, wondering if today would be a mild annoyance or a time-consuming inconvenience.

“You’ll like this one,” he insisted, at which Bruce turned to face him. Jason stood a few yards away, helmet off but domino mask still on, both hands clasped behind his back. A smirk was indeed present on his lips, but he didn’t appear particularly mischievous, and that gave Bruce hope. Maybe it would only be a mild annoyance today.

“I’ll bite,” he relented cautiously. “What is it?”

“It was pointed out to me recently that you don’t have any current photos of me.” The smirk held its ground as Jason approached, hands still behind his back. “I figured I should remedy that for you.”

Bruce’s eyes narrowed. If Jason were telling the truth, it would be a truly kind sentiment, but his expression coupled with his history of sarcastic gift-giving led Bruce to believe that was not the case. Jason came to a stop before him, bringing a page from the _Gotham Gazette_ into view and holding it out toward Bruce in offering.

“This was the best I could find.”

Bruce eyed the newspaper suspiciously as he reached out to retrieve it. The page Jason had it turned to bore the title, _‘Former Drug Lord on Side of Angels?’_ It was an article that had come across Bruce’s newsfeed a couple days back, speculating on why Batman and company now appeared to be working with the formerly-villainous Red Hood. It questioned Batman’s morality for his willingness to work with a known felon, and expressed suspicions that maybe Red Hood had been working for Batman all along, _‘and if one drug lord was under the Batman’s control, who are we to say that **all** the villains in this city aren’t the vigilante’s own doing?’_ Overall, it was a poorly presented argument, sounding slightly delusional even to those who didn’t know the truth, and Bruce had shrugged the article aside without much thought.

What Bruce hadn’t seen, however, was the picture accompanying the article. Red Hood stood at the center of the photo, doubled over, with his hands on his knees, and Batman stood next to him, a hand on his shoulder. Bruce remembered the night well: when their target started running and refused to stop long enough for a fight, Jason had chased the man for blocks, herding him toward the alley where Bruce waited to cut him off. They’d caught him, but it had caused Jason’s asthma to flare up.

In his concern for Jason, Bruce hadn’t even noticed the picture being taken. The journalist must have been fast, too, because Bruce’s hand had only been on Jason’s shoulder for a few seconds before he’d gathered the strength to shrug it off.

Jason shifted his weight from one foot to the other, and Bruce realized he had been staring at the photo for longer than he had intended.

“You’re right,” Bruce said as he looked up, taking in Jason’s puzzled expression. “I do like it.” He turned away, setting the newspaper on the desk in front of the computer. It was, in all honesty, a nice photo. Even if they were in costume, and their identities were obscured, it was a visual representation of a moment they had shared. 

While he didn’t doubt that Jason had still meant the gift as a prank, Bruce appreciated it nonetheless.

-:-

It was a few weeks later when Bruce returned from patrol late to find Jason still in the Batcave, typing away at the computer.

“Still working on tonight’s report?” he asked as he exited the Batmobile, pulling his cowl down to hang around his shoulders.

“Just finishing up,” Jason answered. He saved the file he’d been working on and cleared the screen, standing up from the desk. Bruce headed for the computer and Jason headed for his bike.

“Got you a present,” Jason commented as they passed each other, his tone casual but sounding somewhat forced. “I left it on the desk,” he added, hooking his thumb toward the computer.

Bruce approached the desk warily, listening to the sounds of Jason mounting his motorcycle. Not sticking around to witness the reaction to his gift might mean it was only a mild annoyance that wouldn’t get much of a reaction anyway, but it could also mean it was a heavy inconvenience that Jason didn’t want to be around to endure the consequences of. It was late, and Bruce was tired, and he prayed for a mild annoyance.

Sitting atop the desk was what appeared to be a picture frame, turned down so that the photo it held wasn’t visible. Jason’s bike roared to life as Bruce picked up the frame.

The photo was of the Manor’s living room. In the foreground of the picture was Dick, sat atop Damian, his eyes squeezed shut and mouth wide open in what appeared to be hysterical laughter. Both of Damian’s arms were twisted behind his back, secured at the wrist in one of Dick's hands, his other hand pushing Damian's face into the carpet. Behind them, on the sofa, Jason was grinning at the display.

On the desk, beneath where the frame had laid, was a short note that read, _“Stole this from Tim’s photo album. Seemed better than the last one.”_

In the distance, Bruce could hear the sounds of the cave’s hidden entrance closing behind Jason as the noise from his bike died out. He looked down at the photo again, and couldn’t suppress a smile.

This was the best present yet.

**Author's Note:**

> My coworkers and I do this thing where any time one of us happens to pass by another while we have something unimportant in our hands, we'll usually just hand it to the person as we pass and say, "Here, I got you a present." It's typically something completely un-present-like, such as an empty cardboard box we were on our way to toss in the dumpster, or a dirty dish we were going to put in the sink. It's basically just a way to pass off responsibility onto each other without being too much of a dick about it. For some reason, when I read the prompt, that was the first thing I thought of. I could see Jason doing something similar, except doing it for the purpose of being a dick about it. And thus this idea was born!
> 
> (if you liked it, you should send me prompts too! I'm reclrobins on tumblr)


End file.
